Lecture 5 - autobiographical memory and anxiety Flashcards

1
Q

sum up the inconsisitent findings on memory and anxiety

A

evidence for mood-congruent recall in anxiety is contradicotry
theoretical explanation - anxiety associated with different cognitive processes than depression

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2
Q

explain cognitive processing in anxiety

A

anxiety is associated with early attentional bias toward threat cues
and also later avoidance of further elaborative processing of emotional meaning

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3
Q

the nature of anxiety disorders as confusing cognitive findings

A

very diffuse disorder
non-clinical studies define trait anxiety by performance on self-report scales, namely Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Scale
SSTS - diffuse measure of anxiety that focuses on general distress rather than excessive worry

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4
Q

motivation for studying autobio memory in anxiety

A

clinical observation - anxious patients frequently report recalling previous personally experiences, especially when feeling anxious
more ecological valid form of memory than list-learning and therefore may be better able to reveal memory differences
how autobio memories are recalled plays a major role in the development of PTSD

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5
Q

trauma and autobio memory - overview of its role in PTSD

A

key diagnostic feature of trauma is the recall of aversice memories about the traumatic event, especially when try to forget them
PTSD characterised by intrusive memory recall
PTSD characterised by attempts to avoid recall of these intrusive memorues
trouble remembering key aspects of the traumatice experience

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6
Q

4 types of autobio memory explained

A

episodic - memory for events
persoanl semantic - memory for facts like one’s bday; number of siblings
autobio memory for future events
involuntary autobio memory

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7
Q

VAM

A

verbally accessible memory system

responsible for conscious encoding of events (hippocmapus)

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8
Q

SAM

A

situational accessible memories
sensory information that is encoded perceptually and not conscoiusly processed (amygdala)
explain why intrusions experienced as emotionally charged memories

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9
Q

trauma and autobio memory

A

trauma results in more overgeneral autobiogrpahical memory although sometimes see hyper-accessibility of negative material
evidence that overgeneral recall is associated with greater avoidant processing
trauma also influences personal semantic memory and produces poor recall
both voluntary and involuntary memory are enhanced at encoding by emotionally stressful situations

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10
Q

how does the voluntary and involuntary recall of traumatic events differ

A

involuntary memories and dissociative amnesia: assessing key assumptions in PTSD research

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11
Q

summary of structure of autobio memory with voluntary and involuntary memory explained

A

autobio memory includes episodic, emotional memory and knoeldge of the self

  • involuntary memory recall occurs when stimuli or events trigger the recall of past memort without conscious effort
  • voluntary memory recall occurs when memories are consciously recalled
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12
Q

autobio memory and PTSD diagnosis (vomuntary and involuntary memories)

A

ABM is a ke componenet of PTSD diagnosis

  • victims intrusively re-experience sensory impressions and emotions associated witht he event = involuntary recall
  • victims have dissociative amnesia, or difficulty remembering important parts of the event = voluntary recall
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13
Q

key theoretical assumptions about ABM and PTSD

A

assumes emtional stress during encoding has differential effects on subsequent involuntary and voluntary recall
assumes voluntary recall of trauma is incomplete and fragmented

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14
Q

why is there a dissociation between voluntary and involuntary memory

A

shallow encoding of memory in terms of sensory, emotional and perceptual features causes reduced conceptual processing and contextual integration
shallow processing - facilitates involuntary memories
conceptual processing - facilitates voluntary memory

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